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Sith Lords are Our Speciality
Last Hope of the Jedi
By Len "RedneckJedi" Fowler

Last month I highlighted the new Sith Lords in the Revenge of the Sith release of the Star Wars Trading Card Game expansion. This month, I'll reciprocate with Mace Windu, Obi-Wan Kenobi and Yoda.

Let's face it, as long-time players of the game know, Mace Windu has dominated the game with truly devastating versions that are powerful on his own, or provide benefits to all of your other Jedi. The sole version of Mace released in this set adds yet another powerful self-contained unit. At 50 speed, with 7 power and health, he's already ranked among the most powerful Characters at his base. His first benefit is to grant you 1 additional Force at the end of a turn. This is always a good thing for the Light Side. He has a standard 2-for-2 Evade to help prevent damage, but here's where he really kicks Sith tail. His ability to fetch the top card from your deck for 2 Force and then either add its build cost to his power, or play the Battle card drawn, can overwhelm any Character he attacks with this kind of boost.

Revealed before this set was released, Obi-Wan Kenobi (M) is considered perhaps one of the best Jedi units to be released as a common card (meaning he's cheap and easy to acquire when purchasing card packs). You get a 50 speed with 4 power and health for 5 build and Accuracy! For a comparatively small unit, he can pack a punch making him quite valuable. His inefficient Evade 2 for 3 Force can protect him in a pinch, but he really makes for a quick-n-easy swat at another unit.

Obi-Wan was never granted the title of Jedi Master in the movies, and this held true throughout the card game... until now. One of the things that really hurt Obi-Wan's presence in the game was number of units that had abilities that could damage Jedi Knights and Padawans and not allow them to prevent it. Now, Obi-Wan Kenobi (N) removes that deficiency, and proves exactly why "Sith Lords are his speciality." With 60 speed and 5 power and health, he's not too shabby, but his real boost comes from the +2 power and Accuracy bonus he receives when attacking a Dark Jedi. Accuracy with 7 (or more) power is difficult to overcome for even the biggest and baddest of the Jedi the Dark Side has access to. Obi-Wan's Jedi abilities are complete with an efficient Evade 2 for 1 Force damage prevention ability.

Finally, we come to the greatest Jedi of all: The diminutive and unassuming Yoda. Some consider Yoda (J) to be one of the best versions of Yoda in the game. For just 6 build, you get a 40 speed 5 power and health Jedi Master with the standard 2-for-2 Evade, but also with Lucky 2, enhancing both his offensive and defensive capabilities. Lucky 2 means that you can force your opponent to reroll up to two of the attack dice they rolled against him, and that you can reroll up to two of the attack dice Yoda rolled against an opponent's unit. This is just bad, bad news for any unit this Yoda goes up against. Finally, though, a particularly helpful bonus Yoda grants when he's attacked is that you can "change your own destiny" by placing one of the top 4 cards of your deck into your hand, and place the rest at the bottom of your deck. When continually attacked, you can potentially set up your deck for future drawing, and really load up your hand with helpful cards for the future, or even Yoda's own offensive or defensive needs.

For "big things in little packages," though, Yoda (K) really brings it. For a costly 11 build, he comes with a quick 60 speed and a strong 7 power and health. But he really lays it on with his damage prevention as he can Deflect 2 damage for 2 Force back at another Character, and prevent additional damage for 1 additional Force. Wrapping him up is his ability to grant you 4 Force if he's discarded, and even in defeat, this version of Yoda will always come back... when discarded he immediately returns to your hand!

As we all know, Mace and Yoda are handily defeated by the Sith Lords, and Obi-Wan manages to best Anakin/Vader only through Anakin's overconfidence in his own abilities. However, the Star Wars Trading Card Game allows any match-up and eventuality to occur, and perhaps as a Light Side player, this time the Jedi may destroy the Sith after all.

Next time, I'll share my thoughts about the troubled Rise of the Empire set.